EMERGENCY! My betta is sick

invisible1130

invisible1130

AC Members
Feb 18, 2006
76
0
0
My betta that I have had in a 10 gallon with 6 tetras is becoming multi colored and very lifeless. His once deep blue had (in 9 hours) turned into a grayish black. What could be happening??? His tail fins look a bit shredded too. Could the tetras be fin nipping? I haven't seen them even go near him. I am truly upset. I just moved him from the tank into a 1 gallon bowl for lack of anything better to do and quickly jumped on here for some professional guidance!! Please, any info would be greatly appreciated. I am in he process of cycling the tank BUT have been testing the water and doing major water changes non-stop. What could this be???? :sad:
 
sounds like fin rot and maybe something else

what is the temperature?

what are the amonia and nitrite, nitrate numbers?

i'd suggest salt and heat at 84 to help him heal himself
 
Kyles idea is good - keep him warm and keep his water exceptionally clean (even if that means 2 x 50% water changes a day or more).

While i dont believe "Melafix" is the "cure it all" wonder medicine some people claim it to be - i do think it helps with healing fin problems so if you can try to have some of it in his water.
 
as far as medications go i know maracyn 2 is recomended by some beta folk on this forum

but i would encourage you to be wary of adding meds to you tank b/c often people panic and add too much or too many kinds and they tend to destroy bacteria populations
 
the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate numbers have been:
ammonia: .25
nitrate: .25
nitrite: .5

this morning I did about a 75% water change to get the levels back down and when I got home he was on the aquarium floor not really moving. It looks like part of his tail fin is actually missing.

The closest pet store to me is Walmart - does anyone know if they would carry the medication? What kind of salt - aquarium salt? (not familiar with salt)
 
don't get marine salt or cichlid salt

i've been told you can use normal eating salt as long as it doesn't have any caking agents in it

do a forum search you'll find out what those are

but there are aquarium specific salts for freshwater, this is what i use.
 
Right now I have him a gallon fish bowl with just a little water - he doesn't look like he really wants (or can) use any fins beside the tiny fins on either side (sorry for my ignorance on the proper term) so I'm not sure if he would be able to swim to the top to get his oxygen. OR would he just be able to stay at the top to get his oxygen? Like I said, he was on the bottom of the 10 gallon when I came home today. Sorry for all of the questions...I just want to be able to help the little fella!!
 
Any salt will do - really. Just make sure not to use too much and add it slowly. Last thing you want to do is stress him with a sudden change of water chemistry.

My walmart carries mela and pimafix in the pet supply section (they dont actually sell fish - just supplies). They dont however sell any meds except the "tank buddy" stuff - dont remember who makes that.

Its good to keep him in shallow water so he doesnt need to swim far to breath.
But again its most important that he is warm and the temperature is stabil.

Bettas thrive in water up to 85F+.
 
they can usually get up there periodically and the fresher the water the less he'll feel it necissary to make the trip-

quarentine is a good idea but in the bowl you don't have filtration or heat and that will be harder on him that the effort to get to the surface
 
invisible1130 said:
My betta that I have had in a 10 gallon with 6 tetras is becoming multi colored and very lifeless. His once deep blue had (in 9 hours) turned into a grayish black. What could be happening??? His tail fins look a bit shredded too. Could the tetras be fin nipping? I haven't seen them even go near him. I am truly upset. I just moved him from the tank into a 1 gallon bowl for lack of anything better to do and quickly jumped on here for some professional guidance!! Please, any info would be greatly appreciated. I am in he process of cycling the tank BUT have been testing the water and doing major water changes non-stop. What could this be???? :sad:
Click to expand...
If you said what type of tetras, I didn't see it. But I had to remove a betta from a tank with a shoal of Bleeding Hearts and Serpaes because of them nipping his fins up. It seems to me that he could have been fin nipped and is developing secondary issues because of the cycling tank. Keep the water fresh, use the chloride/chloramine drops. And if you can afford it, pop for one of those small tanks with a hood and a light. Walmart should have those. The light will help keep the water warmer and he will be more comfortable. Also, a few feathery live plants, they love to drape themselves in those things. But it is good that you got him out of the other tank. I'll leave the other medicinal type questions up to the others.
Take care,
Mary.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom